Nunes Backs Down From Assertion Trump Was Monitored

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House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., speaks to reporters during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol, March 22, 2017, in Washington, DC.

The chairman of the House intelligence committee has backed down from his assertion that Donald Trump and his aides were "monitored" by U.S. spies — a claim the Republicans have cited this week in emails to loyalists.

As NBC News reports, Rep. Devin Nunes told reporters Friday he can't be sure whether conversations among Trump or his aides were captured in the surveillance that has become a source of controversy since Nunes made it public in two news conferences this week.

A spokesman for Nunes, Jack Langer, asserted that the Congressman did not explicitly say Trump was spied on when he briefed reporters Wednesday that he was "very concerned," that "the intelligence community incidentally collected information about American citizens involved in the Trump transition."